Astros hope to improve before leaving NL

Published 3:47 pm, Sunday, February 19, 2012

Houston Astros pitchers David Carpenter, left, and Wesley Wright jog before the official start of baseball spring training, Saturday in Kissimmee, Fla.

Houston Astros pitchers David Carpenter, left, and Wesley Wright jog before the official start of baseball spring training, Saturday in Kissimmee, Fla.

Photo: Julio Cortez

Astros hope to improve before leaving NL

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KISSIMMEE, Fla. — In 113 major league at-bats, Houston pitcher Bud Norris has never hit a home run.

Now he feels like he’s running out of time.

“I’ve got one year to get it done,” Norris said. “Hopefully I can just get one and say I did it.”

Norris and the Astros are entering their final season before moving to the American League in 2013 — and adjusting to the designated hitter a year from now isn’t the only transition this franchise is facing. After 106 losses last year, Houston has a new owner, a new general manager and a bit of a clean slate as spring training begins.

“There’s not very many guys with guaranteed spots. Everybody’s going to be fighting,” left-hander J.A. Happ said. “There’s competition throughout — no matter what camp you’re in — but you know this one, especially this year, is going to be exciting.”

Houston’s pitchers and catchers have their first workout Monday, and the Astros are eager to put last season behind them as quickly as possible. They’d never lost 100 games before 2011, when they finished 15 games behind the fifth-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.

Change has been swift since then. After the season, the sale of the team from Drayton McLane to Jim Crane was completed, and the Astros agreed to move eventually to the AL West.

Jeff Luhnow was then brought in to be the team’s general manager. Players haven’t learned too much yet about the new regime, but manager Brad Mills has been working with the front office.

“With any different group, it seems like you’re going to have, maybe some different ideas in certain areas. ... A lot of their ideas might come from looking at numbers, which is because they haven’t seen the guys,” Mills said. “Maybe a different mindset that they have coming in, and that’s all good. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

The Astros have been dismantling their team for the last couple years. They traded stars Lance Berkman and Roy Oswalt around the deadline in 2010 and dealt outfielders Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn during last year’s downward spiral.

“A lot went on last year that kind of hampered away from playing baseball — living in limbo-land with the ownership,” Norris said. “Finally we got that settled. I’m sure Crane’s going to have an opportunity to talk to us, and we’re going to have an opportunity to talk to him. It’s a fresh start. It’s what we needed, and we’ve got to roll forward.”

Norris went 6-11 with a 3.77 ERA last season and has struck out just under a batter an inning in his three-year career. Wandy Rodriguez was also solid in 2011, going 11-11 with a 3.49 ERA. Right-hander Brett Myers returns for his third season with the Astros.

Happ struggled last season, going 6-15. Houston signed Zach Duke and Livan Hernandez, two more starters with experience, to minor league contracts.

First baseman Carlos Lee — one marquee name the Astros have kept — hit .275 last season but had only 18 home runs, his fewest since his first year in the majors. In December, Houston acquired shortstop Jed Lowrie from Boston in a trade that sent reliever Mark Melancon to the Red Sox.

Infielder Brett Wallace, still trying to establish himself after hitting .259 in 336 at-bats last year, was already at the team’s spring training complex Sunday, even though the first full squad workout isn’t until next weekend.

“I think we’re all excited to get going. It’s an opportunity to get down here and get on the field and work with the coaches and just kind of get adjusted a little bit early,” Wallace said. “You can only do so much in the cage or at home. You’ve got to get down here.”

After what the Astros went through last year, there’s a sense that pretty much everyone has an opportunity.

“Each year, you always start over, and that’s kind of cool,” Mills said. “We want to get these guys to be the players they can and compete for jobs. There’s a lot of opening spots.”